A forum for discussing matters of moment, from a curmudgeonly perspective. (The ideas posted here do not necessarily represent those of any organization with which I am a part). Rude and insulting remarks will not be published, but civil disagreement is welcome.
Monday, September 12, 2005
More Thoughts From Blaise Pascal
Man is obviously made for thinking. Therein lies all his dignity and his merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now the order of thought is to begin with ourselves, and with our author and our end. Now what does the world think about? Never about that, but about dancing, playing the lute, singing, writing verse, tilting at the ring, etc., and fighting, becoming king, without thinking what it means to be a king or to be a man (Pensées, 620/146).
Thanks for more from Pascal. Stimulating thoughts.
ReplyDeletePascal seems appropriately to be describing the world thoughtlessly at play.
Seems so easy for Christians to enter therein. We too easily drink from the same stream as the world, then we begin to look like the world.
Hopefully, instead, we could begin to live in contemplation and reflection of the Lord's glory. Then we would be different, like Moses, and beyond- and truly be "the light of the world" letting that light shine before others (Matthew 5).
This shining before others would necessarily involve being present among those who are not in the light.
To think of life as seriously as Pascal consistently is to be lonely at parties and silent in casual conversation. Much of life and relationships seems to revolve around the trivial pleasures and travails of traffic, weather, sports, vacations, and diversions. Some of us may need to be challenged to think more deeply. I usually need to be told to lighten up.
ReplyDeleteThanks to those who gave technical suggestions. I simply pasted the word with the accent from another file. That worked. So, I have deleted the comments with technological suggestions.
ReplyDeleteTo Ted and Mike D: Christians should be different in how we think and what we say (and don't say). We should tend to move away from trivia and diversions and toward more substantial topics. We have to help people get heavier instead of lightening up ourselves. Inject some gravitas whenever possible. Opting out of most popular culture certainly helps.